Champions' Tournament: Part 1
Welcome back, champs! Four Chopped heroes return to action to see who can go up against the very best and win again. But this time, time becomes a very big challenge in the first round. Then with the sting of the judges' harsh criticisms fresh on their minds, the competitors face stinging nettles and antelope in the entrée round. And in the decisive last round, it is clear that both chefs are craving a chance to move on to the finale, but only one will prevail once the judges taste the pie crust desserts. Contestants *Wayne Lyons, Chef and Restaurateur, Soul Flavors, Jersey City, NJ, Saying Sayonara *Heather Priest, Personal Chef, Greenwich, CT, Get It Together *James Gillespie, Culinary Instructor, New York, NY, Doughs and Don'ts *Wade Burch, Executive Chef, South West NY, New York, NY, Yes, Virginia, There is a Chopping Block Judges *Geoffrey Zakarian *Alex Guarnaschelli *Marcus Samuelsson Meal Appetizer Ingredients: Chinese Celery, Fresh Chickpeas, Preserved Lemons, Country Style Pâté Wade made Pâté with Crostini and Chinese Celery Salad. Wade's dish has a strong French bistro feeling to it, with inclusion of sweet, sour, and bitter. Alex considers the use of pâté fat on the crostini and to sauté with transforms the pâté. The crostini is a little too done. Geoffrey finds the dish too safe. James made Penne Pasta w/ Pâte and Lemon Butter Sauce. While the dish is well-made and delicious, it is something anyone could have made and the mystery ingredients are overshadowed and not highlighted. Alex describes what James did as making a dish and adding the basket ingredients later. Heather prepared Pâté Dumplings with Roasted Chickpea & Celery Salad. Heather manipulates the ingredients and combines them nicely. The roasted chickpeas taste nutty. The problem is that the dumplings are a bit soggy and raw. Wayne did Sautéed Chinese Celery with Onions & Lemon. Wayne failed to get his croquette of pâté and chickpeas onto the plate. The judges recognize the genius and the ambition of his idea, and what is on the plate is packed full of flavor that displays Wayne's talent. The judges agree that Chef Wayne is a true champion and amazing chef. Unfortunately, his failure to plate two basket ingredients is too much to overcome. Entrée Ingredients: Rack of Antelope, Stinging Nettles, Jicama, Port Wine Cheese James made Pan-Seared Antelope w/ Jicama Potato Hash & Port Wine Cheese Sauce. James steps it up from the last round: his antelope has the best caramelization of the crust, the sauce is delicious, and the hash belongs where it is. The only complaint is that the nettles get lost in the wilted arugula. Heather prepared Peruvian Antelope Chop w/ Cheese & Nettle Polenta and Jicama Slaw. Heather brings all of the flavors of the basket ingredients in the most cogent manner. The presentation is clean, the antelope is cooked well, and the pairing of the polenta with the antelope is very smart. Heather's dish is lacking a sauce. Wade did Spiced Antelope Rack w/ Carrots & Raspberries. Wade's dish expresses himself in the elements given: The antelope is juicy and the best tasting of the day, the jus is elegant, the gratin has great flavors, and the nettles are beautiful with the carrots. Marcus doesn't understand the usage of carrots. The raspberries taste like melted sponge. All three chefs brought a lot to the table, but in the end, Chef Heather created a dish that begged for a sauce and she was chopped. Dessert Ingredients: Nopales, Sweet Potatoes, Pie Crust, Mezcal James made Sweet Potato Tart w/ Nopales Crème Anglaise & Mezcal Raspberry Syrup. The tart filling is delicious, and the anglaise pairs well against the spicy syrup. The judges are enraged with the pie crust, which is both raw and burnt. They are also irritated with James's trash talking towards Wade when he should have focused on his dish. Wade made Sweet Potato Custard with Cookies & Grilled Nopales. The custard is almost like sweet potato rice pudding, and the cookies are absolutely delicious. The nopales is very acrid and there is too much of it on the plate. The judges look at all three courses to determine that Chef James did not earn the right to win a second victory because of glaring errors in all three rounds. Wade is made Chopped Champion a second time and is rewarded the first spot in the finale. Gallery CTR1 Chefs.png|The Champions for the episode. From left to right: Wade, James, Heather, and Wayne Wade's Bistro Pâté.png|Wade's Appetizer James' Penne Pasta.png|James's Appetizer Heather's Dumplings.png|Heather's Appetizer Wayne ran out of time.png|Wayne's Appetizer James' Antelope and Hash.png|James's Entrée Heather's Chop and Polenta.png|Heather's Entrée Wade's Antelope Rack.png|Wade's Entrée James' Tart.png|James's Dessert Wade's Biscochito and Custard with Nopales.png|Wade's Dessert Notes * Category:Chopped Champions Category:Episodes Category:Season 9 Category:Jicama Category:Sweet Potatoes Category:Mezcal Category:Nopales Category:Preserved Lemons Category:Pie Crust Category:Lemons Category:Fresh Chickpeas Category:Chickpeas Category:Celery Category:Country Style Pâté Category:Chinese Celery